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Traffic congestion down, but costs to commuters still up

The Texas Transportation Institute had a report this week about a slight break in the nation’s worsening traffic congestion.

Commuters spent one hour less stuck in traffic and wasted one less gallon of gas in 2007 than they did the year before, primarily because higher gas prices reduced how much people were driving, according to the 26th Urban Mobility Report.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said in a news release that its data showed traffic volumes still increasing in 2007 because the local economy was still healthy. WSDOT noted improvements, which it said also should be credited to safety and congestion relief projects funded by the state gas tax in 2003 and 2005.

WSDOT analyzed on seven major Seattle-area commuting corridors in the first six months of 2008, as gas prices surged above $4 per gallon. While it’s true that Washington drivers used 63 million fewer gallons of fuel in the first six months of 2008, peak period volumes still continued to grow on these key commuter routes. The most notable changes in traffic volumes were observed on weekends and evenings as drivers reduced discretionary trips, changed destinations or cut trips to save money.

Although congestion remains heavy on several corridors, travel times on six of seven key Puget Sound corridors either improved or remained level for the first half of 2008, compared to 2007.

The Everett Herald, one of the few local papers to cover the study, reports that Seattle area, “drivers spent two hours less sitting in traffic in 2007 than the year before — 43 hours, down from 45 in ’06.”

So how much do traffic jams cost? $87.2 billion in lost time, productivity and fuel in 2007, according to TTI’s report. More than 2.8 billion gallons of gasoline were wasted — enough to fill every traveler’s gas tank for three weeks, according to the report.

Matt Rosenberg, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Cascadia Center for Regional Development, cited the Seattle-area’s numbers on the Cascadia Prospectus, which showed the annual cost to Puget Sound commuters at $1.59 billion — the highest since TTI first began publishing the report.

The report cautions that the recession likely would prolong 2007’s dip, but that traffic volumes would lbounce back with the economy. The TTI report proposes a menu of solutions, recommending more transit and road capacity where it’s most needed; adding more toll lanes, as well as allowing more telecommuting and flexible work hours so people avoid rush hours; and diversifying land use to make biking and walking more practical. TTI, a transportation research center, is based at Texas A & M University.

Rosenberg says the urgency to follow TTI’s recommendations is underscored by the Puget Sound Regional Council’s “Transportation 2040″ plan, which predicts growth in the region’s four-county population “to reach 4.9 million by 2040, or 42 percent higher the 2006 baseline figure of 3.5 million.” Rosenberg, who has argued for more variable-rate corridor tolling, points out the state Legislature recently authorized a series of studies on corridor tolling on several major Puget Sound highways. From Wednesday’s blog post:

Variable rates are based on real-time congestion levels (preferably) or time of day; they are higher during peak periods and lower off-peak. These lanes would be free to transit and the tolls could be made either free or discounted to carpoolers with either two, or three or more passengers per vehicle. With implementation of more express toll lanes based on the new studies, prospects would be boosted for completion of a seamless system of express tolled lanes on all the region’s major highways, and increased express bus service using those lanes.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..